


We'll Win But,

by myshipsaresunk



Category: Trench - Twenty One Pilots (Album), Twenty One Pilots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 10:25:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16406657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myshipsaresunk/pseuds/myshipsaresunk
Summary: We'll win but not everyone will get out. Tyler didn't used to be alone. He was the one who didn't get out. But he'll keep trying, and one day he'll leave the city. //My interpretation of Trench and the story of Tyler being stuck in Dema//





	We'll Win But,

Author's Note: This is how I imagine the story of Dema to be based off the album Trench and the music videos. Everyone, of course, has their own interpretation, but I just thought I'd share mine. I believe the whole story of trying to escape Dema and getting stuck in Trench is a metaphor for mental illness, the Bishops/Blurryface being the dark part of your mind and Dema being the mental illness itself, but this story takes it from a more literal point of view. A lot of Dema in my story is based off the fictional world in the novel 1984 by George Orwell (which is a fascinating book and I highly recommend reading it) because I just really got that vibe from the Clancy letters and the music videos.

Please enjoy, and if you think I missed any theories let me know in the comments! I'm interested in how you guys interpreted the album!

 

**We'll Win But,**

He didn’t used to be alone.

Tyler opens the drawer of his desk and sets the fresh yellow flower on top of the others, all of which are in various stages of decomposition. The oldest one is so dry and brittle that one touch would turn it to ashes. The vibrant color has long since faded, but the memories that come with it are as fresh as the new addition to his collection.

He didn’t used to be alone. 

Once he had a whole room of others. Not here, of course. The Bishops would never allow a meeting of more than four in a private residence. Although “private” is a relative term; everyone here knows that every standard issue apartment is bugged and monitored.

Tyler gently closes the drawer and walks over to the large window. Like every standard issue apartment, the view is of the large, twin smokestacks that mark the dark heart of Dema. He’s spent every day of the last thirty years looking at the colorless pillars, praying that one day they might topple. He still prays, but he’s long done hoping. The time for well wishes is long over. Now is the time for action.

He takes off his standard issue gray jumpsuit and replaces it with his standard issue gray pajamas before settling in between his standard issue gray sheets. Everything in Dema is the same standard issue dull gray color. Except the Bishops.

The Bishops wear bright red robes and ride on spotless white horses. It’s as if the contrast of their vivid color to the blandness of Dema is a twisted metaphor to further spread the lie that they control everything - even color.

But they don’t control everything, especially not color. Tyler’s drawer full of yellow flowers proves that. It’s one of the only things that keeps him from believing the Bishop propaganda.

He didn’t use to be alone.

The first flower came from the first escape attempt. Tyler, his brothers, and his best friend spent years plotting the first escape. In hindsight, it was crude and naïve. But it worked. For them, at least.

They just ran for it. They ran through Dema, hiding around corners of buildings and keeping every footfall silent. Once they reached Trench, they just ran for it. Ten minutes more and they would have all safely made it. Maybe even five minutes more. But the Bishops caught up to them, their majestic horses frothing at the mouth from the exertion. 

Tyler stayed behind. He distracted the Bishops long enough for the others to climb up the steep ravine walls to freedom. He’ll never forget that moment, staring up at them while they threw yellow flower petals down. Not as a tribute to his sacrifice, but as a promise. A promise to return for him.

For a moment he had just stood there, the Bishop only a few feet away from him, staring down at him. His friends, his family, were free from the masked tyranny. It was just him left. There was no reason to continue fighting. He started following the malevolent pair back to the hell he had risked everything to escape from.

But their promise, the vibrant colors streaming around him like a snowfall of hope, brought him out of his trance. The Bishop seemed surprised, as if Tyler was breaking through heavily layered brainwashing. But the Bishops have no power over his mind; they can only make him think they do.

The horse reared, sensing its master’s uneasiness. And then Tyler ran. He doesn’t know exactly why he ran. Perhaps it was the voice in his mind telling him not to fall in line. Telling him to follow it instead, even though it’s just a voice and cannot be literally, physically, followed.

It was a doomed last stand, of course. He remembers tripping, falling. Icy water soaking his not-standard issue, smuggled-in-from-the-outside green jacket. And then the Bishop standing over him, grabbing his hood, dragging him away on his back. And Tyler doesn’t remember when or how it happened, but he was clutching a cluster of yellow flowers, a sign of life that exists only in Trench and the outside world, a sign of life that’s purged in Dema.

The Bishops had taken the flowers from him when he was brought back to Dema, but he had managed to keep one to remind himself of the people waiting for him, working for him. Josh. Jenna. Zack. Jay.

And they never let him down. They kept working, kept trying to get him out. They started an underground resistance just past the border of Trench. A group of survivors that call themselves Banditos. They smuggled in supplies and plans, all branded with an image of a compass with East at the top instead of North. The Bishops kept a close eye on him and stopped at nothing to try and fool him, so the message East is Up was confirmation that what he was getting was from the Banditos, not a trap from the rulers of Dema. He’s made it to Trench countless times, but never quite escaped the No Man’s Land. It seems to taunt him, an imposing obstacle in his pursuit of freedom.

He thinks he’s going to make it this time. The drawer full of flowers representing both hope and failure feed his determination. He’s going to make it this time.

He didn’t used to be alone here. And he’s not going to be alone for much longer.

He glances back outside the window. A vulture is perched on the roof of the adjacent building. Smoke is rising from the twin steam stacks. The Bishops are having a service. They will be distracted. This is his best chance - his only chance now, after so many failures.

He didn’t used to be alone.

He packs his (smuggled, not standard issue) backpack. He only has one precious, personal belonging that he would hate to lose. A small, grainy picture of his grandparents. He loves this picture, treasures it more than any other object.

His grandparents lived in a time before Dema. They lived in a time before Bishops. Tyler doesn’t remember them very well, but he remembers the stories his parents used to tell him about them. They lived in a time of freedom and happiness. They treasured family and friends. They laughed often and spoke freely. They didn’t have to constantly fight the over-present brainwashing of the Bishops, didn’t have to be wary of every spoken word in case the Bishops were listening.

And, most of all, they valued life. They had hope for the future, but they lived in the present, treasured every moment. In Dema, death is considered escape. People kill themselves rather than spending another second worshipping the Bishops. The other citizens consider them brave for that decision.

Tyler refuses to adopt that mindset. Death is not an alternate escape. His grandparents celebrated life; he’s going to fight to gain that privilege, too.

He brushes his thumb over the image of his legends before packing it away with the rest of his supplies. The Banditos are coming for him. It’s time to get out of this place.

The dark street gains a warm light that keeps growing. The other Dema residents are pressing their faces against the glass of their standard-issue windows. Tyler wonders if they know what the color is, or what the light symbolizes. They’ve never been to Trench. They don’t know the promise and the hope of a life outside of Dema. He sees the windows closing, and a deep sadness fills him. They think this is just another piece of Bishop propaganda.

It’s time to leave. He closes the door behind him as he ventures out of his apartment and onto the streets, past the statues of the Bishops. He’ll never have to walk here again. A sort of nervous energy fills him. This escape attempt is different than the other ones. This is for real. He’s really leaving.

The Banditos are walking towards him, torches held high, the light revealing their masked faces. Unlike the Bishops’ masks, the Banditos’ masks only cover their lower faces, not their eyes. No; their humanity is still visible.

Tyler turns back. Another line of Banditos are coming from that way. He doesn’t recognize any of them. For a moment fear strikes him; have the Bishops infiltrated the resistance? 

The fear disappears as soon as one step forward and pulls down his yellow bandana. Tyler would know that face - those eyes - anywhere. Josh. They shake hands using the handshake they created themselves years ago, when they were just children dreaming of escape, not having it at their fingertips. When they step back, Tyler can’t help the small smile that appears on his face.

He didn’t used to be alone; and now he no longer is.

The other Banditos begin to set up the supplies around them. Tyler and Josh set down their backpacks and join in. A Bandito throws Tyler a uniform jacket - a uniform Tyler is choosing to wear, not forced. Another Bandito throws Josh his drumsticks. Someone throws Tyler a mic. Another one plugs it in to the speakers. 

They are finally ready.

A concert. Creating a diversion. Sneaking out under the Bishops’ radar doesn’t work; they’ve tried that. They’ve tried creating a diversion just for the Bishops. That didn’t work either. But this? Creating a diversion for all of Dema - the Bishops can’t control everyone. There are only nine of them and hundreds of Dema citizens.

Josh plays. Tyler sings. He tells the truth. He loudly, proudly, sings the Bandito codewords: “East is up!” He tells of the fearlessness he has when he meets his fellow Banditos, how free wearing the uniform makes him. He tells the escape plan. He tells them it’s a beautiful day to make a break for it. Because the truth is, it won’t work unless the others understand that this isn’t just more Bishop propaganda. This is the only truth they may ever hear in their lives.

“We’ll win by not everyone will get out,” he says, both a piece of hope and a warning. And, finally, the line that assures them this isn’t a ruse - because these words are treason.

“When Bishops come together, they will know that Dema don’t control us. Dema don’t control us!”

He can feel the change in the atmosphere. He can feel the eyes of the Bishops lifting. They know mutiny is in the air. But so does everyone else.

The Banditos make the “let’s go!” gesture and lead Tyler and Josh away. They sneak into a hidden door that hides a tunnel so old it predates the Bishops by centuries. This is how the Banditos had been smuggling supplies and messages in to Tyler. This tunnel is how he’s going to escape.

Tyler had left his jacket behind, Josh his drums. A false scent for the Bishops to follow. And, if any citizens find them, a source of hope. A way to break them out of the mind control.

In the tunnel, Tyler is given a new Bandito Jacket. New yellow shoulder, arm, and chest stripes. Josh leads the way. Tyler can taste the difference in the air; who knew the Bishops could control even the air?

He sees the literal light at the end of the tunnel. He’s finally escaping Dema.

-

The tunnel empties out into a barely-noticeable trail in Trench. Tyler knows it’s Trench because there is green grass everywhere - not a bright green, but a green nonetheless. There is no green in Dema. Trench is no-man’s-land between freedom and captivity, between life and death. 

In the distance, over the green-covered hills and plateaus, he can see the undefined forms of the Bandito’s camp. Smoke rises in the air from a dozen small fires. He feels a lurch deep in his stomach - he’s almost there. Almost free.

It’s a long hike to the camp. They walk single-fire, their torches held high and proud. Tyler keeps expecting the Bishops to come for him, but there is not a hint of red or the sound of galloping hoofbeats. He doesn’t breathe right until he’s seating in front of a fire, eating real food - food that was scavenged and hunted by the Banditos, not the flavorless, colorless meal portions that provide you with the nutrients you need but take away all joy from eating, that are distributed in Dema.

Then they trim his hair, cutting it almost down to his scalp. One downside of the resistance is that they don’t have access to soap and shampoo. In order to keep sanitary, the guys must have short hair. It’s a small price to pay for freedom. And in the process, Tyler feels like he’s becoming a new person physically, not just mentally and emotionally.

He sleeps better that night than he’s ever slept before.

The next day, they hold a celebration for him. If he hadn’t stayed behind in the first escape attempt, they all would be back in Dema right now. Tyler doesn’t need their praise, but he’s happy to be among people who aren’t brainwashed or at least pretending to be. He gets a new jacket, new yellow stripes.

He sees a bird flying out to the camp. It lands for a few minutes, and Tyler can see that it’s a vulture. He can’t help but shudder; vultures were the only birds in Dema. It makes eye contact with him, and he gets the eerie feeling that it can see into his soul. Then it flaps its wings and takes off, and Tyler feels better.

That night, he and Josh have another concert. This isn’t a diversion so they can escape; this is a celebration of having escaped. All the Banditos are there. They are dancing. No one really knows how to dance, since it was an unspoken rule that it was not allowed in Dema, but they’re trying. Because now, they have the privilege of trying.

Another vulture comes and perches just beyond the ring of dancers. Tyler ignores it. Another vulture comes and joins a few minutes later. He’s starting to get a bad feeling deep down inside. He pushes it away, convinced it’s just paranoia left over from years of the Bishops’ brainwashing.

When the concert is over, the Banditos hang around outside, sitting around small fires and talking. A group of guys invite Tyler over to sit with them at a fire at the edge of camp. He’s so grateful to meet and talk to new people that he doesn’t even think twice about the request.

The men don’t talk to him other than a few awkward sentences here and there. They seem a little anxious. Tyler’s bad feeling rears up again. He’s just about to stand up when an icy feeling shoots up spine and paralyzes him. Cold hands wrap around his neck, soothing and numbing. His mind is panicking, his heart racing a thousand beats an second, but he can’t move. Can’t react.

The men just watch him. There is no surprise in their eyes. They knew this would happen. Tyler swears he sees one of them mouth “Welcome to Trench” as the Bishop starts dragging him away.

The Bishop pauses for a moment to place a flask against Tyler’s lips. He tries to fight it but the Bishop is too strong. The sour taste of Chlorine fills his mouth and washes down his throat. Almost immediately he feels his body go completely limp. 

It’s not actually Chlorine. Tyler doesn’t know exactly what it is, but it’s a chemical concoction that the Bishops use to brainwash rebellious citizens of Dema. Every time Tyler has been brought back after an escape attempt, they forced him to drink it and watch propaganda videos or listen to propaganda messages. The liquid paralyzes his body and makes his mind suggestable. You can’t fight it, either. He only recovered from the brainwashing by looking at his picture of his grandparents and the drawer of yellow flowers. Proof that he’s not insane by trying over and over to escape. Proof that Dema doesn’t control everything. Proof that there’s more to life than standard issue jumpsuits and apartments and window views of the twin smoke stacks.

The Bishop drags him away by the hood. Tyler can’t move his neck, but his eyes dart around, looking for Josh, for Jenna, for Zack, for Jay - for anyone he recognizes. But all the figures are blurry and dark and he can’t fight no matter how much he wants to because Chlorine is running through his veins.

He doesn't know how long the Bishop drags him for, but it’s a while. He can hear the sound of a horse huffing, and then the Bishop hauls him on top of the beast. They ride for a while before the Bishop stops and dismounts. He sets up a tent next to a tree and uses a rope to tie Tyler to it. The tree is small, like every life form in Trench, but it’s sturdy - in order to survive here, you can’t be weak.

Tyler knows they are too far for the Banditos to come searching for them. When the Bishop wakes up, he’ll take Tyler back to Dema - back to a gray cell, where Tyler will be filled up with Chlorine and brainwashed and then released back in society, where he will promptly begin planning his next escape.

No; Tyler won’t let that happen. He’s going to escape. Tonight. He can’t go back to Dema. He can’t bear losing again. The thought of having to taste Chlorine again, to see red robes and a blurry face that doesn’t speak, to wear a standard-issue gray jumpsuit - no, he can’t bear that thought. He’d rather die.

Tyler is patient. He waits until the Bishop is asleep. He waits until the horse is asleep. He waits until the Chlorine starts to wear off and he can, haltingly and clumsily, stand up. He fights with the rope until it comes off. His wrists are bleeding and chaffed raw, but he’s free. He clumsily begins his escape, stumbling over rocks and trudging over the plains. The moon is full and lights his way as he goes back to the Bandito camp. The torches in the distance illuminate his goal, his salvation.

He walks for hours. He walks until he’s so dizzy he sees black spots, and then he sits down for a few minutes, breathes deeply, and then starts again. His legs shake. His wrists continue to seep blood. His head is whirling. But every second he gets closer to the Bandito camp.

When it’s only a few dozen meters ahead, he breaks into a run. Hope spurs him forward. He gives it his all - all the strength he has left, every little reserve, it’s used up now. He’s so close to salvation.

He bursts through the entrance and instantly slows to a stop. An icy feeling creeps up his spine again. His heart plummets.

Every fire is still burning, but they’re all down to the coals, abandoned hours ago. A few supplies litter the ground here and there, but most everything is packed. The tents are abandoned. The ground is covered in a flurry of footprints.

The Banditos must have known the Bishops found them. They must have fled immediately. Did they even notice he wasn’t with them?

Tyler collapses on a log next to the nearest fire, despair filling every crevice of his mind. He fought so hard, sacrificed so much, only to be left behind again. And this time there’s no yellow flowers to give him hope again. 

He didn’t used to be alone.

He feels so empty. He’s stuck in a loop of escaping Dema, getting stuck in Trench, and then getting sent back to Dema, only to escape again and get stuck Trench. Trench may be full of life that doesn’t exist in Dema, but it is also full of the same disappointment and hopelessness. Escaping Dema isn’t the hard part; escaping Trench is.

He thinks of all the people still in Dema. They know life is bad there, but they’ve never even experienced how good it can be. They’ve never danced around a fire at night. They’ve never seen green grass or picked a bouquet of yellow flowers or laid in an icy stream. They’ve never felt the high of running from the Bishops.

Knowing that Trench exists and having to live in Dema is worse than only knowing Dema. Knowing Trench exists means having hope for the future, only for that hope to come crashing down time and time again. At least the others are blissfully ignorant.

There’s a flapping of wings and a vulture lands on the other side of the fire. Tyler watches it for a minute, and suddenly he understands. He never had a chance to escape Dema. The Bishops knew he was trying to escape even before he stepped out of his apartment.

His biggest mistake was believing that the vultures were the only living creatures in Dema. They aren’t, because they aren’t living at all. If you watch closely enough, like Tyler is now, you can see how robotic their movements are. If you listen closely enough, you can hear the almost silent whirr of their machinery underneath a fake skin. And if you look into their eyes, you can see the lack of a soul. 

The vultures are machines, built to spy on Dema’s citizens without them knowing. The vultures perched on the roof of the apartment next to Tyler’s are there to keep watch on him. They can cover miles of land quickly; they can venture into Trench without anyone noticing.

How stupid was he to think he could ever escape? He never had a chance. He never will have a chance. No, this is the end of the line for Tyler. He can’t keep up this cycle of hope and despair, of light and darkness, of plotting and fleeing and being brought back. It takes a little bit of his soul every time, and this last attempt was the worst. There’s nothing left to escape from Dema now. Just an empty shell, hollowing by false hope.

He sits down, accepting his fate. The path he will take is clear to him: he will submit to the Bishops when they find him. He will go back to Dema, succumb to the brainwashing, and then be sent back to his life. He knows a guy who sells razor blades; he can trade what’s left of his possessions for one. Then he can finally get out of this loop. He can finally, truly, escape.

He makes this plan calmly. Human instinct is to fight for survival, but some sufferings in life bulldoze straight through that instinct. Some pain is stronger than thousands of years of genetics.

He reaches over and throws another log on the dying coals. He might as well make the most of his limited time. Once the Bishops find him, he won’t ever be truly alone again. They are always watching with their hidden cameras. Always watching him.

He sees a piece of paper on the ground, held down by a rock. The rock has a ll - // scrawled on it with charcoal. Tyler recognizes the sign. He designed it himself years ago. But the only one who knows about it Josh…

He picks up the paper. It’s the picture of his grandparents. Tyler doesn’t know how to react. He sits down numbly, holding the picture as tightly as he can. He feels his eyes stinging.

He never met his grandparents, but he’s always looked up to them. Their dedication to life was one of the things keeping him going when all hope was lost. Now, looking into their frozen faces, he feels as though they’re looking at him with disapproval. They would be disappointed if he gave up now. He’s never made it this far before in his escape attempts. It’s a sign to keep trying, not to give up.

And Josh...Josh knew he gone. Josh knew he had been taken by the Bishops. Josh left this for him. He knew Tyler would need the encouragement to keep fighting. Josh left this as a promise, just like he threw the yellow petals. 

He didn’t used to be alone.

Tyler has people fighting for him still. There are obstacles, but they aren’t giving up. He can’t, either. This has been a setback - a huge one, yes, but a setback just like all the others. He just needs to take a deep breath, reset, and clear his mind. 

Tomorrow, he’ll back to Dema. Tomorrow, he will keep fighting again. And the day after tomorrow, he’ll continue to fight. And the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after that - he’ll keep fighting until he escapes.

In time, he’ll leave the city. But for now, he’s just going to stay alive.

He lifts his eyes up to the sky. The dark blue of the night sky is being replaced by a vibrant pink, orange, and yellow tapestry. He’s never seen such a beautiful sign of life, of hope. Trench is a place of despair and disappointment, but it’s also a place of hope and new beginnings. He’s stuck here right now, but he won’t always be.

He didn’t used to be alone, and one day he won’t be anymore.

The sun will rise, and he will try again.

ll-// Stay Alive, frens


End file.
